This invention relates to a method for processing large cast iron dies, particularly of the type used in the automobile industry for pressing sheet metal to form vehicle body parts. Such dies are usually constructed at the present time of alloy cast iron, which after casting is mechanically machined, this being followed in most cases by surface hardening of those regions of the die which are subjected to maximum wear when in use. Specifically, the purpose of the surface hardening is to harden these die regions in order to increase their wear resistance, which is known to depend on the surface hardness, so increasing the life of the entire die and obviating the need to take costly action to restore its initial geometry, with consequent production loss. However, flame hardening has numerous drawbacks: it is of slow implementtion and cannot be automated due to the fact that because of its nature it cannot be easily parameterized, and therefore has to be executed manually by specialised operators; moreover, whatever the ability of these latter it does not produce uniform results in terms of hardness and depth of hardening, and can give rise to cracks in the die with consequent need for repair; on the other hand, the replacement of flame hardening by other analogous surface hardening treatments such as induction or by treatment with a laser beam has not so far been possible, as the complicated shapes of the dies inevitably result in superimposing of more than one hardening treatment in certain regions of the die, with the consequent formation of cracks. Finally, known flame-hardened dies have the drawback of being subject to seizure when in use, this being the cause of many pressing rejects and the need for considerable lubrication, and in addition results in frequent and costly down-times of the presses equipped with such dies.